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Joanna Bechtel's Journal
Davis 4th of July Criterium
veröffentlicht von: at 15:36 on Juli 07, 2009
4th of July Davis Criterium
July 4, 2009
Womens 3/4 10:15 am
Teammates: Kimmie, Karena, me
Combined Field: ~30 (scored separately)
Teams: Team Integrate/FFBC, ProMan, Colvita, HH/Code 3 otherwise solo riders
Time: 30 minutes
Weather: 80s, very sunny, little to no wind
Course: L-shape, 3 left turns, right turn, two lefts before the final straight away ~200 m
Instead of watching the 4th of July Parade in my hometown, this year I went to downtown Davis for two criteriums with my HH/Code 3 teammates. Other than 4 FFBC gals, we were the biggest team there. Karena was feeling “frisky”, Kimmie was there to work, and I was prepared to works as well. I had a little trouble clipping in but made it up to the front pretty easily. There were a lot of primes for such a short race, and women were actually going for most of them. On the Mavic wheel prime, Karena launched from the front before Turn 1. I was on 4th wheel when she went, so I stayed there waiting to hop on someone’s wheel if they went after her. But Karena’s attack was so huge that Margret from Metromint and the other gal didn’t bother. I sat 2nd wheel, not pedaling hard, and watched Karena take home the wheels. Awesome!
I found it easier to move up on the right side, which was on the outside of most turns. Another prime and I decided to go for it after Turn 4. I moved to the outside and kept my momentum up through the last two turns and onto someone’s wheel. With 100 m to go to the line, I sprinted around her. A FFBC was on my right and just nipped me at the line. Darn. This was her second prime of the day and she was a good sprinter. Not much was happening, so when we approached the line seeing 4 laps to go, I went off the front and did a lap by myself. The field caught me after Turn 1. I was able to integrate back into the pack and tried to rest before the final sprint. With one lap to go I was 4th wheel. Then there was an acceleration and I was gapped off a little after Turn 2. Before Turn 3, both Karena and Kimmie came around me telling me to hop on. I managed to get on Kimmie’s wheel and was 7th wheel or so around the final turn. But I wasn’t fresh after my solo lap and dropped a few places to 11th, but was happy for Karena and Kimmie who from my viewpoint looked to have made the podium. And they did: Karena was 4th and Kimmie was 6th.
Thanks to Karl and Mason. It was nice to hear your cheers every time the field came around.
Womens 1/2/3 12:30 pm
Teammates: V, Karena, me
Combined Field: ~40
Teams: Metromint, Vanderkitten, HH/Code 3, Colvita, Touchstone, SugarCRM, Webcor
Time: 50 minutes
Weather: 80s, hotter, very sunny, little wind
Course: same
There wasn’t much time between the finish of the 3/4 race and the start of the 1/2/3. My legs were tired. After the kids’ race, V, Karena, and I did a few laps around the course. This race was quite a bit faster than the previous one. A lot of primes again and every time there was an acceleration in the field. Some breaks off the front, but as in every other race of the day no break stuck. I was usually in the front half of the pack, working not to drift back but finding it more difficult to move to the front than this morning.
Starting with 9 laps to go, I was looking for wheels moving forward that I could hop onto and move up to possibly help V at the finish. I was too tired and/or still lacking the aggression/guts to move up myself. After the crash in Burlingame, it was enough for me mentally to maintain my position in the pack. Still midpack in the bell lap. I saw V after Turn 5 sitting up and it turned out she was 4th wheel but dropped a chain. Bummer. I rolled across the line 29th out of 35 finishers, having kept the rubber side down two crits in a row.
Afterwards, I actually felt slightly bummed that I didn’t get the prime or finish on the podium in the morning and didn’t move up to help V in the afternoon. In other words, I feel like racing again, not just surviving!
Kategorien Kriterium
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Kommentare (2)
16:47 on Juli 07, 2009 UTC Anna Voorthuijsen-Woldring schrieb
Well done, Jo!!!
19:50 on Juli 11, 2009 UTC Kimmy schrieb
Jo, you're our little engine that "always" could